1951 NERC Season

The 1951 NERC Season was the 6th season of the North-Eastern Runty Championship, the first professional runty league in the world. The Manhattan Archers made their NERC debut, bringing the league to 7 teams. These teams all faced each other home and away for a duration of 14 weeks, with each team receiving two bye weeks.

The Manhattan Archers won the 1951 Champions Cup, completing a historic inaugural season.

Regular Season
The NERC’s 6th season began on May 5, 1951, with all 6 of the league’s 7 teams playing at the traditional 3:00 time slot. Like the previous two seasons, each team would play 12 games. However, instead of one bye week, each team would have two bye weeks, which was necessary due to the league having an odd number of teams.

The opening week of games was pretty exciting. Boston would spoil the defending champion Bears’ first game after winning the Champions Cup with a 35-25 win. Next, the Panthers outlasted the Clippers in a 32-27 thriller. Lastly, the league first expansion team, the Manhattan Archers, lost their first game against the Knights, 28-25.

Games of the Week
Week 1: New York 28-25 Manhattan

Week 2: Buffalo 28-31 the Bronx

Week 3: Hempstead 27-38 Manhattan

Week 4: the Bronx 20-21 New York

Week 5: the Bronx 27-30 Manhattan

Week 6: New York 25-41 Staten Island

Week 7: Boston 34-36 Manhattan

Week 8: Buffalo 29-25 Hempstead

Week 9: Staten Island 24-22 Manhattan

Week 10: Manhattan 32-24 Hempstead

Week 11: Buffalo 33-39 Manhattan

Week 12: Manhattan 24-29 the Bronx

Week 13: Boston 20-25 Buffalo

Week 14: Hempstead 26-33 Staten Island

1. MANHATTAN ARCHERS

Leading Goalscorer: Vern Chamne (17)

Coming into the 1951 season, analysts thought that the Archers would be a decent team based on their NYRL domination, but they certainly weren’t expecting them to finish FIRST OVERALL in their inaugural season. However, they just looked right at home from the get-go, as if they’d always been in the league. Their offense particularly was insane, becoming the first team to average over 30 points per game in NERC history. Their defense was good as well, one of 4 teams to allow under 300 points. The Archers finished their first season at 9-3.

2. BUFFALO PANTHERS

Leading Goalscorer: Des Samuel (19)

Finishing second for the second consecutive year were the Buffalo Panthers. They had a lackluster record of 5-4 after 11 weeks, but they finished the season with 3 convincing wins to take the #2 spot and home-field advantage. Helping the Panthers out a lot was rookie Des Samuel, who burst onto the scene and kicked 19 goals, leading the league. Sportswriters were convinced that Samuel could become the league's first true superstar, with one going on to say “This man is going to be a household name for generations”. With his help offensively, the Panthers finished at 8-4.

3. STATEN ISLAND ISLANDERS

Leading Goalscorer: Donovan O’Connor (12)

THEY DID IT!!! For the first time in franchise history, the Staten Islanders finished in a position other than last place overall. They also clinched a playoff spot for the first time since 1948 (when every team made the playoffs). Overall, it was a super impressive season for them. While their offense was still in the middle of the pack, their defense played out of their minds, and allowed the least points per game in the entire league. A big part of this was due to the suffocating play of T.A. Cobblestone, a 6’7” beast of a human. The Isles finished at 8-4, below the Panthers on goal differential.

4. BOSTON RIDERS

Leading Goalscorer: Duane Smith (5)

Finishing fourth for the third consecutive year and clinching the final playoff spot were the Boston Riders. Despite an offseason that saw many players leave, and an injury-riddled regular season, they still managed to win 7 of their first 9 games. However, their injuries really caught up to them by the end of the year, as they lost each of their final 3 games, finishing at 7-5. Duane Smith was the team’s breakout player offensively, but he only played 6 games all season due to injury. Despite this, he still led the team in goals.

5. THE BRONX BEARS

Leading Goalscorer: Lucas Sizemore (14)

Finishing 5th were the Bronx Bears, a very disappointing season for the reigning champions. Their season was a tale of 2 very different teams, the home Bears and the away Bears. At Riverside Field, they were a force, winning 5 of 6 games and averaging over 30 points per game. However, their downfall was their play away from home. They didn’t win a single game on the road, and only averaged 20 points per game, a far cry from what they were capable of. Their awful road play cost them a playoff spot and a chance to defend their crown, as they finished 5-7, 6 points out of the final playoff spot.

6. HEMPSTEAD CLIPPERS

Leading Goalscorer: Leonard Pruck (9)

Finishing 6th were the Hempstead Clippers, a team many predicted would have a bounceback year. Instead of bouncing back from a disappointing 4-7-1 record in 1950, they actually played even worse. They didn’t win their first game until week 6, and at that point, they had fallen too far to recover. Not much went right for them all year, though the emergence of Leonard Pruck up front made their season a little easier to stomach. Hempstead finished at 2-9-1, ahead of 7th place on a tiebreaker.

7. NEW YORK KNIGHTS

Leading Goalscorer: Joe Hunnith (7)

Finishing in 7th were the 1950 runners-up, the New York Knights. Their previous season was considered a flash in the pan, and their play in 1951 confirmed that. They had the worst offense in the league, as well as the worst defense in the league, and by decent margins. They actually started the season at 2-1, but finished the season on a 9-game winless streak and 8-game losing streak. As well, of those 8 games they lost to close out the year, none of them were by less than 6 points. Overall, it was a season the Knights wanted to forget, as they finished 2-9-1, below the Clippers on point differential.

Playoffs
Prior to the season, the NERC announced it was going back to the playoff format used for the 1948 season. In this format, the 1st-place team would play the 3rd-place team in the semifinals, while the 2nd-place team would play the 4-place team. The winners of the two matchups would play in the Champions Cup, a winner-take-all game.

Notable Events
-   In week 10, Staten Island defeated the Bronx for the first time since 1923, when the two teams were in the NYRL.

-   The NERC updated their rules for goal kicks, mandating that Rucks/Rovers now had to take goal kicks without a running start.

-   After their week 5 game against Boston, Staten Island made a wild claim that the Riders cheated throughout the game, and claimed that they deserved the win. The league didn’t even investigate the claims due to their sheer absurdity.

-   Staten Island recorded their highest score in NERC history in week 6, scoring 41 points.

-   Buffalo’s Des Samuel broke the NERC’s single season goal record, as he scored 19.

-   In week 14, Buffalo became the first team in NERC history to score 10 goals in one game.

-   Staten Island finished a position other than last for the first time in their NERC history.